Final Fantasy 11 Submitted Tuesday, March 23, 2004 - 9:55:11 PM by Klaitu
So, I got FF11 about a week ago or so. I saw the commercials, and decided that I had to give it a shot. First though, for this article to truly make sense, I have to start back with my previous MMORPG.. Star Wars Galaxies.
Why did I quit Star Wars Galaxies? Simple, nobody ever played it.. and when they did, they played it by themselves in a concerted effort to become the next Jedi. Star Wars Galaxies started as an amazing game, and had a tremendous potential for roleplayers, but they lost their vision when Raph Koster moved off the dev team, and Star Wars Galaxies spiralled into just another MMO hosed down with Star Wars Juice.
Enter FF11.
I purchased the reasonably cheap PC version of ff11, simply because 40 bucks is much cheaper than 99. I was also not certain of how playing a MMO on a console was going to work.
The package contained a whopping 5 CD's and demands an impressive 6 GB footprint on your hard drive. Why they didn't just put all this onto a single DVD, I know not. From start to finish, the installation process alone took 4 entire hours to complete. I set out installing around 10 at night, and I didn't get in the game until just after 2 AM. Most of this time was spent on downloading the updates.
First, let me talk about the loader. If you have played Star Wars Galaxies or Everquest, you know what this is. It's basically a proprietary menu that lets you start the game because they don't want you to access it directly. The Playonline viewer-- ff11's take on the loader is completely and utterly insane.
Every single menu screen is animated and artfully put together.. like some sort of hyperactive flash webpage. On top of that, the viewer comes with something like 25 background themes that you can configure to play.
As I said, this sort of thing is complete overkill for a PC game, but when you consider that this is also on the PS2, it makes a lot more sense. Playonline viewer has things like an Instant Message service, pop3 Mail service, and access to entire online manuals from within its depths.. things you can easily get on the PC, but can't so easily get on the PS2.
There are 5 races in ffxi: Hume (human), Elvaan (elf-like), Galka (strong and beefy), Tarutaru (children), and Mithra (cat-like and agile). Each race has stat adjustments that make them more or less adept at each job.
Character appearances are somewhat limited. 6 head types and 2 hair colors per sex per race. Galka and Mithra only have one sex. There are 3 body sizes available. Clothing and Armors tend to look very similar at early levels.
Actual gameplay is done almost exclusively with the keyboard. The game is designed to play on a PS2 controller, so most of the controls are very simple and easy to operate. You've played the format before, though: Find monster, beat up monster, gain XP, level, repeat.
What makes this game different from anything else I've seen is that it has an actual story, just like any other Final Fantasy game. This isn't an MMO hosed down with Final Fantasy Juice, this is a worthy addition to the series.
In addition to the main plot, there are oodles of sidequests and subplots which actually give you worthwhile rewards and goodies. Things like Chocobo Licenses.. that allow you to ride a chocobo, or an Airship pass, which lets you ride the airship. There are also quests that give you maps to dangerous areas, quests that give you new jobs, and quests that raise your level cap.
There are a plethora of different jobs to choose from, and unlike Ultima Online or Star Wars Galaxies, assuming you had the time you could theoretically maz out every single one of them. The hitch is that you can only use the skills from 2 of them at a time. You might be a Warrior and White Mage.. you might be a Samurai and a Summoner. Character advancement is very versatile, and it's uncommon to see people with an identical smattering of skills.
A very compelling aspect for me is just the sheer fun of the game. I've only been playing a week, so I am not all that great or anything, but already I can go and explore the countryside. They other day I rode a ferry to the other side of the entire globe. To walk that route would take nearly an entire day, but the ferry just took about 45 minutes..
and when I say I rode the ferry, I meant, I got on, and the ferry started sailing. I stood on the deck the entire time.. with a whole slew of other people who were also on their way to a new land.
This game does not have as much potential for roleplay as Ultima Online or Star Wars Galaxies has, though. It uses the stanrard Everquest "chat room" format for speech and actions. There are also no actual player structures nor guilds for that matter. In fact, I think the game is better without them in this instance.
If you're looking for something new, fresh, and very well done (with no bugs that I have found yet) then check it out, either for PS2 or for PC. Get more information at http://www.playonline.com
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